A Secret Love
by penelope90
Summary: Azula is back and rehabilitated, though she is by no means the fire nation public's favorite. They still think she's a psychopathic killing machine, if only someone could help her show everyone she's a changed woman. It's a good thing Katara's good at soothing souls and mending hearts. Rating subject to change/Pretty gay
1. Chapter 1

Firelord Zuko's one year coronation anniversary ball was decorated beautifully, and all attendees were dressed in new, elegant gowns and robes.

Katara was standing at towards the back of the ballroom with Zuko, Aang, Toph, Mai, and Ty lee.

With Zuko, Mai, and Ty lee in traditional fire nation formal robes, Toph in traditional earth nation masterbender robes, Aang in his formal master airbender robes, and Katara in a water nation color-schemed gown, the group looked to be a diverse elite clique. With masterbenders from all nations, including the firelord and avatar, they intimidated most of the attendees of the ball too much to be interrupted in their conversation.

Mai was as elegant as ever, her ever somber mood had matured from a childish pouty-ness to a certain attractive seriousness. She wore a formal black and gold robe over a burgundy dress that covered her neck and fell to the floor, the satiny fabric seemed to flow minutely at the slightest twitch of movement.

Aang had grown a bit taller, but was still fairly hyper and sometimes less mature than the avatar should be. His blood orange robe covered formal yellow and orange under robes and pants.

Toph hadn't grown any taller and suspected she had reached her permanent height, however, she was maturing and her body was beginning to fill out. Toph wore a beautifully detailed ensemble of assorted robes of varied shades of green, all secured with a single metal belt around Toph's waist. The robes were just long enough to reach the ground, which disguised the fact that Toph had no shoes on her feet.

Ty lee hadn't changed at all since the end if the war, she was just as happy-go-lucky and active. She had red, and black formal robes draped over her gorgeous, silky pink gown that clung to her figure just right and fell to her ankles, leaving her pedicured, sandaled feet visible.

Zuko donned his red, black, and gold official firelord robes, with his hair half up in a traditional topknot, held up with his golden fire crown.

Katara wore an icy blue gown with a plunging neckline that went off both shoulders. The fabric went far enough down her arms to leave only her fingers free from the thin material, but a small hole was built into the sleeve to allow her thumb mobility. The dress stuck to Katara enough to make her appear sensually slinky, but loose enough past her hips that it gave the appearance of modesty.

The clique was more or less constant, except when Zuko had to excuse himself to greet guests every now and then, or some nobleman's daughter built up the courage to approach the group and ask Aang to dance. Sometimes Sokka and Suki would take a break from drinking jovially and dancing to join them and have a brief conversation before one of them coaxed the other back to the dance floor or buffet.

"We should all take a celebratory trip to Ember Island!" Ty lee claps her hands excitedly.

"Celebrating what?" Toph smirked.

"I don't know..." Ty Lee tried to find something worth celebrating, "Zuko has been firelord for a year? We're all here together, alive and well? That's all I got."

"Perhaps that could be arranged, it sounds like it could be fun." Mai nods and looks at Zuko with a calm inquisitiveness.

"I could use some practice bending sand." Toph shrugs before taking a sip from her goblet of wine.

"I'm game if you all are." Katara looks back at the party, locating Sokka and Suki off to the side of the dance floor, ball dancing slowly as they spoke with each other. She hoped Sokka and Suki would come on the trip as well, though she had a feeling they definitely wouldn't miss a change to travel with the rest of the gaang once again since it rarely happens anymore.

"Sure." Aang nods, "I've been working a lot recently, I wouldn't mind a vacation."

Katara suddenly felt restless.

"I'll be back." She turned and walked into the crowd of socializing aristocrats.

As Katara weaved through the people she felt the burning sensation of being watched tickle her back.

She turned, curiously glancing over her shoulder, meeting meeting the eyes of none other than princess Azula, who was roughly 40 feet away.

Katara stared at the princess, whom she noticed was quietly hiding, it seemed, at a table off far to the side of the party.

Curiousity killed the squirrelcat, or so Katara had heard. She turned and walked with grace towards the woman that had tried to kill her and her own brother just over a year before.

Almost too soon Katara found herself standing in front of Azula with nothing to say and no reason to have sought out the princess.

Katara awkwardly attempted to spark a conversation, "So, you're here..." She internally cringed, Katara realized she seemed unfriendly, perhaps even upset, while she was neither. Katara had long overcome any grudges she held over Azula, and honestly hoped the two could at least be civil with one another in the future.

"Yes.. I suppose I am." Azula looked down at her hands, which she had primly folded in her lap. If Katara didn't know any better she might think this was not even the real Azula, this girl was polite, quiet, even... timid? Though there still was a whisper of the Azula's old confidence and self-assurance

"I heard you underwent rehabilitation in an.. institution." Katara continued to strike a metaphoric match and hoped a fire could be started.

"Yes, I did. It was... enlightening." Azula seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

Katara took the seat beside Azula, "Want to talk about it?" She offered.

Azula was surprised, she had had few real conversations since her return. Those who had asked about the institution she had stayed at for a year simply asked either to be polite and would change the topic, or used it as a segue to talk about whatever they wanted to discuss with the princess.

"Alright." Azula looked up from her hands, meeting Katara's eyes for the first time since their slow burning conversation began.

So the two had a long conversation, Katara patiently and understandingly listening to Azula spill her heart.

For Katara it was an eye opening experience, during the war, Azula had been the 'bad guy', one enemy out of many, not a person. Certainly not a person who had their own issues. All things considered, Katara figured as far as someone raised almost solely by Ozai, Azula could have been much worse in their previous encounters.

Azula was no villain, she was only human, and humans can be hurt, broken and rebuilt. Which Ozai happened to excel at.

By the time the two realized they hadn't moved in hours, their rears were sore from their seats, their throats were a bit scratchy, and the ball had long since ended.

The servants were in the process of cleaning up the ballroom when the two women, who would now consider each other friends, realized it was very early morning and vacated the ballroom.

As the two walked the palace halls, Katara began to talk about herself, and it was Azula's turn to listen and occasionally comment thoughtfully.

Azula wore black, red, and gold masterbender robes. As the two women walked, Azula would peel off layers from the top half of her body since summer in the fire nation was scorching, apologizing halfheartedly with each layer, though it was excusable since even night was so humid it was sometimes unbearable. The layers Azula shed were held up by the black fabric belt loosely tied at her waist, until she was at the last layer before her under clothes. So she and Katara paraded the palace with Azula's robes folded over casually at her hips, it admittedly looked silly, but Katara thought it looked almost like a very voluminous and detailed skirt.

Now both Azula's and Katara's hair had been shaken out of their elaborate up dos, and their makeup was beginning to smudge from them absentmindedly rubbing their eyes every now and then.

Just as the sun rose Azula and Katara, who had been sitting in the private royal gardens, looked at the lightening sky and suddenly both felt fatigued.

"I suppose we ought to rest by now." Azula sighed, as if she couldn't bear to halt conversing with her new friend. "I must admit, I don't want to leave you. I haven't had a... friend to talk to in so very long. Ty lee and Mai talk to me now that I'm back, but I suspect there is a long road to regain their trust." She confided.

"I understand," Katara put her hand over Azula's, "I know it's been challenging for you. I've enjoyed our talk too."

"That makes me very happy to hear." Azula smiled genuinely, her golden eyes twinkled as the sun rose and she thanked her friend silently.

"I guess this is the time to go and finally sleep." Katara laughed as she let Azula's hand go and stood up, looking to Azula, "I'll walk you to your room."

Since Katara was invited by Zuko personally as a friend, she was accommodated in the palace, as were Toph, Sokka and Suki, and Aang. So after walking Azula to her room, Katara could go and sleep in her own.

"Why, thank you." Azula stood and looked at Katara with a serene and humble happiness that was painted on her face for the world to see.

As the two slowly glided down the palace halls to the residential wing, where the royal family and honored guests stayed, the two ran into Zuko.

"Good morning, Azula, Katara." Zuko nodded at each woman respectively as he said their names, "Up so early?" He said as he noticed the two women were wearing their ensembles from the night before.

"We forgot to sleep, would you believe?" Katara giggled nervously, for some reason she felt like a naughty child getting caught.

"Well, I'm glad you two are getting along." Zuko says, looking past the two girls as if he has somewhere to be. Katara notices this and side steps, "Don't let us stand in your way, I know his highness is very busy and in high demand." Katara teases.

"Thanks, Katara!" He walks by, "I'll see you two at lunch, or dinner, maybe."

Katara laughs and continues her walk down the hall, though she actually has no idea where Azula's room is. Azula trots to catch up since she got lost in thought which caused Katara to unknowingly leave her behind. Azula couldn't help noticing the close relationship between her brother and her new companion, she looked at Katara.

"Is my brother courting you?" Azula bluntly asked.

Katara stopped walking and began laughing with so much momentum that she fell right over, and continued her fit of laughter from the marble floor of the fire palace.

Once Katara caught her breath she wiped a mascara-laced tear from laughing, and sighed, "No, Zuko is not courting me." She chuckled a bit, "I'm actually pretty sure he's considering getting back together with Mai, their friendship is pretty stable and they're actually a well matched couple."

"Oh.." Azula hummed as she helped Katara to her feet, "I wouldn't know, he's so busy that we don't really talk much. And on top of that, I think he still doesn't like me much." Azula admitted.

"Hey, hey." Katara scolded, "Don't say that! If Zuko didn't like you, he would've had no problem leaving you in the mental institution. He cares about you, you two just haven't had the time to get to be siblings again. The teasing and talking and that. You'll see." Katara assured Azula, rubbing her back briefly.

"Thanks. Well, this is me." Azula looked at the large double doors that lead to her antechamber, en suite bathroom, and bedroom.

"What a coincidence, this is my suite!" Katara pointed to the double doors across the hall.

"Oh, then I'll have to pay you a visit." Azula smiled.

"Of course!" Katara agreed. "Well, good night. Or morning?" Katara shrugged as she waved to Azula, who had already opened her doors.

"Good morning, Katara." Azula nodded, smiling peacefully before disappearing behind her doors.

Katara slipped into her own rooms, stripping off her shoes and dress and under garments to run a hot bath to quickly wash up just so she didn't bring dirt into her huge, fluffy bed.

After washing her hair and scrubbing her skin, Katara rose from the hot water and pulled the plug at the bottom of the tub. She waterbent the water from her hair and skin before pouring some perfumed moisturizing oils from the small table beside the tub into her palms and applied them to her skin and hair.

Katara re-entered her bedroom and slipped on a simple sleeping robe before running a comb through her hair quickly before braiding it neatly.

Katara closed the curtains to the obscenely tall windows to block out the sunlight before climbing into the softest bed money could buy.

Katara woke up uneventfully in the mid afternoon, changing into her usual leggings and long blue tunic, Katara prepared to face what was left of the day. She brushed her hair and decided to leave it out before exiting her room, letting her eyes linger on Azula's doors as she wondered if the princess had awoken yet.

Katara wandered to the kitchens, requesting a light snack to hold down her appetite until dinner. After eating, Katara found a servant walking down a hall and pulled him over, "Excuse me, do you know where Sokka and Suki are?"

"I'm sure, Sir Sokka and Lady Suki are in the gardens, I saw them there an hour ago." The man bowed before excusing himself and continuing on to his destination.

"Everyone's a busybody around here.." Katara mumbled as she continued on her own way.

Sokka and Suki were, in fact, not in the private gardens, Katara would know, she had double and triple checked.

She sighed and took a seat on an elaborately welded bench.

"What is a girl to do." Katara sighed once again, she wasn't sure how to spend her time until dinner, she definitely didn't want to spend the day in solitude.

Katara stood and made her way back to her room, resigned to relax and read in the small library each suite had.

As Katara pushed open the door to her quarters, Azula's doors opened, and she exited in her military formals. Azula almost looked like she had in the war, except she had grown taller, her face had become a bit more defined, and her hair was longer. Azula wore her hair down, Katara thought it looked nice, her long hair made her look... handsome.

"Good afternoon." Katara stopped in her doorway.

"Morning." Azula said in casual speech.

"How did you sleep?" Katara politely inquired.

"I slept well. But you don't have to speak so formally with me, not all the time, maybe just in public, but between us, we don't really have to talk with so much formality." Azula waved her hand dismissively as she continued to smile.

"Oh, good. I feel like formal speech is so impersonal." Katara relaxes and decides to close her door and take a few steps towards Azula so they aren't having a conversation from different sides of the hallway.

"I agree." Azula mocked the way fire and earth nation upperclassmen spoke, even though she was raised to speak in that manner, she found it was easier to speak casually, since there're less rules on what to say and how to say it.

Katara laughed amiably and the two went on their way. Azula led, since Katara had no plans of her own and decided to just accompany her friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Three days after the ball, all the guests of the palace who had lingered began departing.

The gaang and friends agreed to meet back at the palace in one month, at the end of summer, to go to Ember Island for an undetermined period of time.

Katara and Azula sent mail to one another, via messenger hawk. Katara was staying with Suki, and subsequently Sokka, on Kyoshi Island until the agreed upon meeting at the royal fire palace.

Katara was standing by the shore of Kyoshi Island, halfheartedly bending the water in the bay into interesting shapes or events in the air. Katara groaned as she made a life size ice model of Appa. She was growing restless, it had been four days since she sent her last letter to Azula, usually, the princess responded in three days, though she had somehow responded in two days before.

Katara melted the ice-Appa, she was bored, antsy, and mildly upset. Katara's stay on Kyoshi Island had been uneventful the three weeks she'd been there so far. Katara would practice bending every morning before breakfast, then after eating she would help prepare lunch, then do some light reading until dinner, then practice her bending a bit more, and then she would bathe and sleep, rinse and repeat.

Katara hoped Azula's life back at the palace was more interesting and less trivial. Though, Katara didn't know if it was or wasn't. Azula seemed to be avoiding the topic of palace life in general when she wrote to Katara, instead rambling about a new dish the cooks had tried out, or her fresh new set of military official jackets, pants, and, of course, traditional fire nation curled-toe boots.

Katara had noticed Azula's evasive technique, but chose to ignore it, trusting Azula to confide in her at her own pace.

"Katara!" She heard Sokka call for her.

Turning abruptly, Katara sprints to the Kyoshi warrior commune.

"Yes?" She gasps for air, bending over to rest her hands on her knees.

Sokka holds up a messenger hawk, perched on his forearm, "Mail for you."

Azula had written a short letter essentially telling Katara she was excited to see her and go to Ember Island.

The last few weeks had been torture for Azula, the letters with Katara seemed to be the only thing keeping her alive.

The servants did as Azula told them, of course, but there was an obvious fear and discomfort they felt around her. It went beyond the palace staff, many fire nation citizens were unhappy the supposed monster was back in society. To appease the people, Zuko insisted Azula attend therapy thrice a week, which she definitely didn't like, but didn't mind too much. She was mostly grateful it gave her something to do.

Though their friendship was new and hadn't been tested by anything but distance, unless Azula almost killing Katara in the past counts, Azula valued it and held their companionship close to her heart.

Katara had a way with people, she could be harsh and cool when she needed to be, but naturally she had a nurturing nature and was kind and sweet. Katara was the first person to treat Azula with such tenderness, and Azula adored her for it.

Azula had sent her letter a bit late this time, she found she had nothing to write, her life was currently dull. But after sending the messenger hawk, all Azula could do was wait and kill time. Soon enough she would reunite with Katara and wouldn't be so alone.

"Katara, slow down! I'm going to drop my bags!" Sokka wheezed as he hustled up the steps to the palace.

Katara continued to speed up towards the royal palace, all but running.

"What's her deal?" Suki asked her boyfriend as she carried her own bags and one of Katara's.

"I'm not sure, she was exchanging mail pretty often, so maybe she has a lover in the palace, or a friend?." Sokka grumbled, worn out even though Suki was carrying quite a bit more than him.

"Hmmm..." Suki sighed before redirecting her attention to Sokka, "We need to get you in shape, we should work out together. You know how vigorous the Kyoshi exercises can be."

Sokka groaned as they continued their walk to the royal palace.

"Azula!" Katara called when she finally climbed the stairs, entering the royal entrance courtyard, carefully handing her bags to a servant and thanking her, before turning and speed walking to greet her friend.

Zuko and Azula stood in their fire nation masterbender robes in front of the large, extravagant doors to their palace.

Katara, still in her casual travelling clothes, almost felt inadequately dressed, but when she saw the bright smile dancing on Azula's lips and the way the skin around her eyes creased, Katara excitedly grinned and continued on.

"Katara." Zuko nodded as the young woman approached.

Katara stopped to hug Zuko, quickly greeting him before turning and hugging Azula.

"Haha, I'm glad to see you too." Azula suavely chuckled and hugged Katara in return.

Zuko looked at the two in mild surprise before redirecting his attention to Sokka and Suki, who had just handed their luggage to servants and now happily walked towards the firelord, princess, and Katara.

"I'm so happy to see you! I've been so bored!" Azula gushed as she grabbed Katara's hand, beginning to lead her inside.

"Azula! Aren't you going to stay and greet Toph and Aang when they get here?" Zuko asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

"It's fine, they don't like me anyway!" Azula called over her shoulder as she led Katara to the royal library, it was the only place in the palace that was always empty, traditionally, firelords would do their duties to the nation in the library, but Zuko insisted on having a private office, so now Azula had unofficial claim on the library.

"I've missed you too. I've been counting down the days!" Katara confided, with a quiet smile playing on her lips, causing Azula to find her alluring, like a siren.

"I hate being cooped up in the palace, it's so boring here, and everyone is afraid of me still." Azula wistfully sighed, "For good reason, I did some terrible things, and would've done worse, but I've changed for the better and they don't see that."

Katara squeezed Azula's hand comfortingly, causing Azula to suddenly remember she was holding Katara's hand.

Promptly, Azula's hand felt much heavier and far hotter than usual. She discreetly ditched Katara's smooth hands by pretending to scratch her nose with the hand Katara had held and not returning it.

"How were things with Sokka and Suki?" Azula genuinely wanted to know, another thing that was new to her.

"It was fine. I was bored, but hey, I survived." Katara joked.

The two women spent the remainder of the day lounging about the library, reading eachother excerpts from strange books and sharing stories.

When they were summoned to dinner by Zuko via a kind elderly maid, the girls had all but forgotten everything outside of the cozy atmosphere they'd built in the library.

Dinner might've been uncomfortable for all but Katara and Azula, but the two barely noticed, they sat beside eachother, giggling and speaking with eachother intimately to such an extent that everyone else in the room felt they were peeking at something that should have been private.

Azula found that she enjoyed watching Katara speak animatedly, her eyes practically glowed and her features were even more exquisite from the distance required to whisper effectively.

"Well," Zuko clears his throat, standing to make an announcement, "We will leave for Ember Island tomorrow, it's a short trip, only an hour or so."

"Sounds great! I'm excited!" Ty Lee cheered.

"Thank you for the lovely meal." Azula politely excused herself from the table, charmingly offering her arm to Katara in a gentlemanly fashion.

Katara went along with the silly formal display, accepting the arm, she and Azula strolled from the room, arms linked like two lovers.

As soon as the women heard the doors to the dining hall close behind them, they reluctantly released eachother and began to giggle.

"Come to my room, I'd like to show you something!" Azula's eyes met Katara's and they both smiled as if dazed.

Katara didn't need to reply, Azula knew she would follow.

Back in the dining hall, confused friends and family of the women murmured.

"What?" Aang watched the two leave.

"Yeah, we just found out this morning." Sokka shakes his head as he looks at Suki, "Apparently, Katara is buddy-buddy with the chick that tried to kill us all! No offense, Zuko, but I still don't trust her! People don't change and I don't want her around my sister!"

Zuko stared at Sokka, "Sokka... You just don't understand. She's been through a lot, but she has changed for the better."

Sokka held his tongue but he nodded, though it was obvious he didn't accept that response.

"I think it's nice." Toph says with her mouth full of food, "I mean, if you can overcome someone hurting you before you even really knew eachother, and become friends, it's a test to the friendship. And they passed." Toph obviously alluded to her friendship with Zuko.

"I agree with Toph," Zuko nods, "I think the friendship will be good for rehabilitating Azula, and could be constructive for both of them."

That ended the dispute, so the conversation continued on to other topics.

"Oh, I don't know about this..." Katara chewed on her bottom lip as she sat on a chaise in Azula's antechamber.

The princess held out a hand, "Come on, it can't hurt!"

"If you say so." Katara finally relented and let the princess lead her into her bedroom.

"It's over here!" Azula all but dragged her friend to her large walk-in closet. "Try something on!" Azula urged, leafing through some dresses on hangers as she looked between the clothes and Katara.

"Are we even the same size?" Katara looked around the room in awe. She had never seen so many beautiful clothes, or so many extravagant fabrics.

"You're probably a bit curvier than me, but they'll all fit, I swear by it!" Azula assured her. "Do a fashion show! Try on whatever you like!"

Despite the fact that Azula owned so many dresses, she wasn't a fan of wearing them. She preferred her military garb with pants and a coat. So she figured since she never wore the dresses, Katara could try some on. And seeing Katara in the dresses was an added bonus, which Azula was unexplainably excited to see.

"Oh, alright." Katara gave in and began inspecting Azula's wardrobe.

"I'll be in my room, try whatever you like!" Azula waved as she exited the large closet.

Katara distractedly grunted, another sound of Katara's that Azula would now find endearing.

After a short wait, Katara sashayed out of Azula's closet, with a mock haute pout on her lips. She continued her over the top mock walk until she was 10 feet front Azula, who had taken a seat on her bed, and struck a deamatic pose before breaking into a fit of giggles.

Azula joined her in her laughter as she took in the sight of the white sun dress on Katara. It was haltered, and had a high waistline, that suited Katara well. The dress reached just under Katara's knees, showing off her muscular but lean calves.

Azula clapped her hands, "You look great! More! More!" She cheered.

"I must give the people what they want." Katara did an impression of a snobby model. She promptly returned to the closet, not waiting until the door closed behind her to begin stripping the dress off, giving Azula a brief side view of Katara's bare breasts.

She had taken off her breast bindings because with some clothes they aren't really needed due to many seamstresses inserting built in support to their garments.

Katara, hadn't paid any mind to the accidental show she had flashed Azula, she hadn't really noticed. Plus, in the water tribes nudity among those of the same sex was common, and not taboo. Though in the fire nation, it wasn't scandalous, but it was uncommon. Women bathed alone, unless they were wealthy enough to have servants bathe them.

Azula froze as the door closed. After hearing the click of the door closing, her face flushed.

"What?" She whispered to herself, "It's not like I'm a man, what the hell." Azula tried to brush off the awareness she now had that she was in fact attracted to her friend.

And of course she continued to fail at doing so when Katara walked oit of the closet once again, this time in long fire nation red, black, and gold formal robes with a gold belt keeping all the layers of robes in place.

Katara looked stunning in fire nation colors, or at least Azula thought so. The red offset Katara's azure eyes, and the gold brought out the warm tones of Katara's skin.

And so the night continued as such, with Katara trying on beautiful dresses, giddy like a child, and Azula fighting off the knowledge that she was attracted to another woman.

After about two hours, Katara hollered to Azula from the closet, "This is the last one I'll try on, I promise!"

"Don't worry about it, it's fun to see you in these clothes, I don't really wear them!" Azula yelled back. The past few hours had been torture for her, she had slowly gotten turned on, and every time Katara returned to the closet to change outfits, Azula squirmed uncomfortably, stilling only when Katara returned to the main bedroom.

Azula felt dirty, thinking of Katara like that, though she found she couldn't really help it, it was still shameful to her.

"Here it is!" Katara strode out of the closet suddenly.

She was wearing one of Azula's many sets of fire nation military ensembles, boots and all. Katara had even tied her hair up into a bun and left two long strands down at the sides of her face.

"Guess who!" Katara put a hand on her hip and turned her head, giving Azula a view of her neck and jawline.

That was all Azula needed to internally melt into a puddle, though on the outside all she did was smile and laugh.

Azula felt as though she had boiling water in her belly, but she had to keep that to herself, there was no need to scare Katara with Azula's own strange urges and feelings.

"You look," Azula momentarily paused, swallowing hard, "wonderful! Like if Sokka was hot!" She teased, hoping Katara didn't read between the lines Azula had unintentionally written.

"I know right." Katara laughed as she did an impression of none other than Azula, smirking and inspecting her nails.

"Very funny." Azula rolled her eyes, still internally squirming. "You don't have to hang that one back up, just leave it on the floor of the closet when you're done changing back, I need to... Get it updated, I want more.. Buttons." Azula fumbled for words.

"Alright!" Katara gave two thumbs as she returned to the closet.

Once she was alone again, Azula took a deep breath, she needed to get Katara out of there soon so she could... take care of her dilemma.

After what Azula would say was too long, Katara finally exited the closet in her own clothes. Azula walked her to the door leading to the hallway and the two said their good byes.

Azula, finally alone, briskly walked to her bedroom, closing the connecting door from the antechamber, and stripping down hurriedly as she made her way to her bed. As soon as Azula was naked on her soft downy sheets, she couldn't stop her hand from sliding between her legs if she wanted to.

Katara, on the other hand, was happily preparing for bed. As far as she was concerned, it had been a wonderfully pleasant day with her dear friend. Though she found Azula was on her mind more often than a regular friend might be. Katara rationalized that it was only so because she and Azula were definitely not regular friends, they had to be best friends. Katara had had plenty friends, but none of them made her feel quite the way Azula did. Azula made Katara feel important and beautiful. Azula made Katara feel like she wasn't the type of person to kill fun, the way many others implied. Katara appreciated that with Azula there was no need to micromanage or babysit her.

Katara had a certain unique fondness for the fire nation princess.

As Katara laid in the comfortable bed in her room, she closed her eyes to sleep. Imagining how much fun she and her friends, especially she and Azula, would have once they were at Ember Island.

The morning was a blur, everyone (except Sokka) woke up early, and were ready to go as the sun came up. Sokka woke up just as everyone else was finished getting dressed and groomed, so he was essentially carted off to Ember Island straight from his bed. Fortunately, he hadn't unpacked his belongings the night before, so transporting his luggage was a simple affair.

After everyone was on the airship, Zuko gave the okay to the people working the ship and they took off for Ember Island.

Mai, Zuko, Ty Lee, Suki, Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph, and Azula were all lounging about a large sitting room in the royal airship.

Ty Lee was engaged in an animated conversation with Aang, Sokka, and Suki. She, Aang, and Sokka were truthfully the ones driving the conversation, Suki just watched them as they spoke with loud exclamations and hand gestures.

Mai and Toph were having a friendly debate about whether or fire or earth nation cultures were more superficial.

Zuko sat at a table in a corner doing some paperwork to make up for the fact he would be shirking his responsibilities onto Iroh while he was on vacation.

Azula and Katara sat on one of the sofas near a window, the two were having a wonderful conversation about their bending techniques. However, internally, both women were on totally different wavelengths. Azula felt guilty, even though Katara had no way of being aware of Azula's attraction to her(she hoped), Azula felt like a terrible friend nonetheless. Katara, on the other hand, was having a fantastic time. She was just enjoying the company of her best friend and had all her close friends in arms' reach once again.

Arriving at Ember Island had been uneventful, though there was a scuffle for the guest rooms in the royal summer home. There were only four rooms designated for guests, two had one king bed each, and the other two had full sized beds. So Mai and Ty Lee commandeered the first king guest room they came across, leaving the others to scramble.

Sokka almost violently fought for the next king-size bed room, pulling Suki through the door with him and throwing some of his bags on the floor as he prepared to wait for the servants to bring up the rest of his and Suki's luggage.

Toph called dibs on the next room, and of course Aang let her take it. Which left the remaining room for Aang.

Only after all the guest room doors were closed and everyone was getting settled in did Katara and Azula get to the hallway with the guest bedrooms.

"Oh... I think they've all been taken.." Azula stared at the now darkened hallway.

"Oh.. Now what?" Katara put down her bags.

Azula shrugged, "You could stay with me." She internally warred with herself, she would love to share her room with Katara, but what if she impulsively did somethings to alert Katara of her feelings.

"Oh, if it wouldn't be too much trouble." Katara smiled and nodded.

Azula gulped and returned the heartfelt smile.

Azula's bedroom was in a different part of the house, which was really a mansion. Her room was huge and her bed far surpassed king size.

"Whoa." Katara put her bags down before running around the room, inspecting old trinkets on shelves and beautiful furniture.

Azula watched Azula explore the room with her wide, awe filled eyes, finding herself just as giddy as Katara herself, just from witnessing the excitement.

"Can I?" Katara pointed to the bed.

"Go ahead." Azula nodded.

Katara took a running start and ran across the room to jump, limbs outstretched, as she launched into Azula's large bed.

Katara bounced, and though she landed on her stomach-side in the middle of the bed, she landed on her back near the pillows.

Katara laughed and left the bed to brush herself off. Azula was breathless, Katara's beauty truly was universal, no matter what she did, she looked great doing it. "Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. I must seem pretty immature, huh?" Katara laughed, a little short of breath.

Azula shook her head almost comically, "It's okay, you didn't really get to do that as a kid, I assume. From what you told me, you had to grow up pretty fast. Plus, we're still young, young enough to act stupid and get away with it." She awkwardly tried to piece together the right words to say what she meant.

"So, let's get some late lunch." Azula offered.

"Yes, let's!" Katara grinned from Azula's bed.

"I can't believe how expensive things are here." Katara exclaimed later that day as she and Azula walked on the beach towards the royal's abode.

"This is where the wealthy come to relax, they can afford the prices, and with that money, the merchants can afford to live here. It works out." Azula explains as she eats one of the (very expensive) spiced buns that she and Katara had purchased in the tourist-area of Ember Island.

"I guess.." Katara takes a bite of her own sweet bun.

"Wow, it got dark really quickly." Azula surveyed the empty beach.

"Hey, let's swim." Katara's eyes sparkled as she scarfed down the rest of her treat and began to jog toward the water, looking over her shoulder with a gleeful smile that Azula could barely make out with the moonlight coming from behind Katara.

"Okay," Azula followed, practically swallowing the remains of her spicy bun whole. "But just for a little while." Azula conceded, a small smile gracing her face softly.

Once she was only 20 feet or so from the water, Katara stripped down to her binding underclothes, not hesitating to sprint to the water and bend it up into the air to catch her as she hurled herself into it, slipping into the watery vessel like a hot knife through butter. As soon as she was completely submerged, Katara dropped the water back down to rejoin the ocean and hovered underneath the water's surface. Azula, on the other hand, clumsily stripped down to her own underclothes as she watched Katara, mesmerized. Finally Azula heated her own body temperature as she cautiously walked into the chilly water. "Whoa, it's freezing." She said through clenched teeth.

"What?" Katara resurfaced, blinking her eyes like a deer, trying to regain sight outside of the salty water. Azula gulped, repeating herself quietly. Katara laughed lightly.

"The water is fine. It's perfect." She hummed as she closed her eyes and seemed to collapse directly and fluidly into the water. Azula observed Katara use her bending underneath to glide through the water as if she were flying. Azula used her own bending to heat the water around her.

"This is good. This is nice." Azula sinks into the warm water. Still keeping an eye on Katara who was bending about in the water like a spirit, she couldn't keep the affectionate smile off her face.

"Azula!" Katara appeared before her, an impish smile on her lips and a gleam in her eyes. She resembled a selkie, at least Azula thought so. "Here, do you want to swim with me?" She held out a hand. Of course Azula could never deny a pretty face, and as of lately, Katara's wide eyes.

"Alright, you make it look so enjoyable." Azula gave Katara her hand, "should I hold my breath?" She asked just before Katara yanked her roughly into the water, letting Azula discover the large air bubble that Katara bent for the two of their heads.

"Okay, here, climb on my back. Hold on, or you might slide right off." Katara warned as she laid on her stomach on the shallow ocean floor. Azula did as told and savored the feeling of being so close to Katara. The two slid through the water with ease, at a comfortable speed but still slower than Katara had gone when she was solo.

"Wow." Azula breathed. "Waterbending must be enjoyable... I mean, firebending has it's merits, but whoa." Azula murmured as Katara kept bending them through the water like penguin-seals.

"I love my bending, I wouldn't trade it for the world." Katara sighed happily, aiming them back to the beach. "But firebending must be nice too, you're like never really cold, you always have fire when you're camping, and it isn't like earth or waterbending, where one needs a medium to bend, you **create** fire." Katara finished speaking as she and Azula stood up in the shallow water.

After they walked onto the sand, Katara waterbent all the water off of the two and began to dress herself, Azula followed suit. The two women walked back to the beach mansion together quietly. Creeping into the house steathily, coming across a few busy servants who insisted the girls go to the kitchen and eat at least a bit. The servants seemed to avoid looking at and talking to Azula, unless she addressed them first, but had no probable. Being friendly towards Katara, even though their actual employer was technically Azula.


End file.
